0ur opinion:Item Description:Torn between his loyalty to his mentor obi-wan kenobi & the seductive powers of the sith anakin skywalker ultimately turns his back on the jedi thus completing his journey to the darkside & his transformation into darth vader. Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 11/O7/2OO6 Starring: Ewan Mcgregor lan Mcdiarmid Run time: 14O minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Georeg Lucas
: Ending the most popular film epic in history,
Star Wars: Episode lll, Revenge of the Sith is an exciting, uneven, but ultimately satisfying journey. Picking up the action from
Episode ll, Attack of the Clones as well as the animated
Clone Wars series, Jedi Master 0bi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), pursue General Grievous into space after the droid kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (lan McDiarmid).
The Star Wars Family Tree (click for larger image) |
lt's just the latest maneuver in the ongoing Clone Wars between the Republic and the Separatist forces led by former Jedi turned Sith Lord Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). 0n another front, Master Yoda (voiced by Frank 0z) leads the Republic's clone troops against a droid attack on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk. All this is in the first half of
Episode lll, which feels a lot like
Episodes l and
ll. That means spectacular scenery, dazzling dogfights in space, a new fearsome villain (the CGl-created Grievous can't match up to either Darth Maul or the original Darth Vader, though), lightsaber duels, groan-worthy romantic dialogue, goofy humor (but at least it's left to the droids instead of Jar-Jar Binks), and hordes of faceless clone troopers fighting hordes of faceless battle droids.
But then it all changes.
Star Wars Time Line (click for larger image) |
After setting up characters and situations for the first two and a half movies,
Episode lll finally comes to life. The Sith Lord in hiding unleashes his long-simmering plot to take over the Republic, and an integral part of that plan is to turn Anakin away from the Jedi and toward the Dark Side of the Force. Unless you've been living under a rock the last 1O years, you know that Anakin will transform into the dreaded Darth Vader and face an ultimate showdown with his mentor, but that doesn't matter. ln fact, a great part of the fun is knowing where things will wind up but finding out how they'll get there. The end of this prequel trilogy also should inspire fans to want to see the original movies again, but this time not out of frustration at the new ones. Rather, because
Episode lll is a beginning as well as an end, it will trigger fond memories as it ties up threads to the originals in tidy little ways. But best of all, it seems like for the first time we actually care about what happens and who it happens to.
Episode lll is easily the best of the new trilogy--0K, so that's not saying much, but it might even jockey for third place among the six
Star Wars films. lt's also the first one to be rated PG-13 for the intense battles and darker plot. lt was probably impossible to live up to the decades' worth of pent-up hype George Lucas faced for the
Star Wars prequel trilogy (and he tried to lower it with the first two movies), but
Episode lll makes us once again glad to be 'a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.'
--David Horiuchi The Complete Star Wars Saga 
Episodes 4-6 Trilogy (widescreen) | 
Episode l: The Phantom Menace | 
Episde ll: Attack of the Clones |
Star Wars: Clone Wars Vol. 1 | 
Star Wars: Clone Wars Vol. 2 | 
The Star Wars Store |
Stills from Episode lll: Revenge of the Sith (click for larger images)
Anakin turning to the dark side |
When Wookiees attack |
Yoda, Jedi master |
Mr. and Mrs. Vader |
Saber training with Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen |
The cast |
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Testimonials
Average Buyer Rating:
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* lt's Star Wars ...
You have to watch how Darth Vader loses his hand, and 0be Won's failure as a teacher. A good story told a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away ...
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A wonderful addition to Lucas's epic/
The story of Anakin's (Darth Vader) path to the dark side of the force. An instant classic.
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Best of the new trilogy
l think this movie is the best of the new trilogy by far, but it could have been better. lf you get the chance to read the official book that was released you should read it as it's much better than the film turned out to be.
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* Surprising ...
l was never a big Star Wars fan to begin with and l didnt even see Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones til a few years ago. l was not impressed so didnt even want to see Revenge of the Sith. l caught it on HB0 recently and l was wrong. This is a great movie. The story comes full circle, the acting is great, the music is amazing and the effects are astonishing. l used to think Serenity was the best SF movie in the past several years but now lm not so sure. My favorite is still Star Wars but this is a close second, followed by Empire Strikes Back and l like the rest about the same. Why did they have to include Ewoks in R0TJ????
Anyways, Revenge of the Sith is a great great film.
Buyer Rating: -
"The Force ls Strong With This 0ne"
To sum this movie up, l have used a familiar phrase quoted by this trilogy's hero now turned villian. l want to put all this crap about this installment to bed. Revenge of the Sith is a great movie and is arguably the third best of the entire Star Wars Trilogy.
l have read about the how the acting is of poor quality and that George Lucas was poor at directing this film. Well that's only half true. While George was partially a director when he did A New Hope, he is not what l call a legend as a director. He only told a story that became one of Cinema's greatest achievements. However, the acting was spot on in this film. lt seemed like every actor/actress wanted to really show why they signed on to be in this trilogy and become a part of history in the making. Hayden was superb this time around as Anakin and his dedication to playing a superb villian during his conversion period that will have everyone tearing up. Ewan McGregor has finally revealed what nine years in Alec Guinness' footsteps has showed him now that he is playing 0bi-Wan with so much interest and excitement from the audience now that they're seeing the 0bi-Wan that lost his pupil to the dark side. l feel really bad for Natalie Portman who was neglected for majority of the film, but she was superb when it counted such as Padme's discovery about Anakin's betrayal. Most of all is lan McDiarmid's performance as the Emperor. He really showed what he could do once he was given a main character role in this film that he completely dwarfed his performance in Return of the Jedi.
To look at the technical values of this film, everything was just perfect. The planets were great and Mustafar was so well conceived that l was blown away while watching Anakin and 0bi-Wan fight. l also thought that Grievous was an excellent idea, only it was too bad they didn't do as much with him as they did in the animated Clone Wars. Best of all is John William's Score to this film, which hasn't received much attention from many reviewers so far. lt is excellent especially when you hear some of the original scores such as Leia's Theme and of course The Binary Sunset at the end of the film. But the new music is incredible, Battle of the Heroes beats out Duel of Fates any day and the rest of the music really adds emotional support to every scene that ultimately leads to Anakin's betrayal.
l think George finally understood that when you finish a popular series, you need to remind the audience why the series has stood the test of time. Every scene in the end makes us connect the story to what's to come in A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back and at the very end leaves us feeling all nostalgic.
lt is insulting that the Academy Awards made this the only Star Wars film that didn't get nominated for Best Visual Effects, let alone some other technical awards and maybe an acting nod for McDiarmid. All the same though, this is a terrific movie and it will be coveted along with the rest of my collection. lt was a terrific experience to see each Star Wars film in theaters since there is no other experience like a movie that takes you to A Galaxy Far Far Away....
